Advertisement
Published: August 20th 2017
Edit Blog Post
PORCELAIN CRAB
This little guy is about the size of my fingernail, and hides in a sea anemone. Great camouflage. LEMBEH
This was a funny trip. My flight to Indonesia from Santiago, Chile was routed through Seattle. I had a fourteen hour layover, not time enough to drive all the way home, then back to the airport.
I asked my daughter, Lauren to come visit with me and to bring me a pair of pedal pushers; I lost my brand new ones in Costa Rica on our river run. I could catch up with what was happening at home, and since I would only be diving on this part of my trip I could send some stuff home and travel lighter. Lauren and Mike met me in the airport but when I went to the luggage carousel my luggage wasn’t there. I checked with the airline and it was locked up in a room waiting to be shipped straight through. Frustrating, but it meant I would travel light, with only a small carry-on backpack, all the way to Indonesia. I confirmed my hotel and then we went to a restaurant. Afterward my family dropped me at my hotel and they went home for some sleep; they both had to work the next day.
A shower and
ELUSIVE SEAHORSE
I have only a couple of photos of seahorses so I was elated to find two this trip. They are difficult to photograph because they like to entwine themselves between twigs and shyly rotate away from the lens. a good night’s sleep left me refreshed for the lengthy flight to Lembeh, Indonesia. It was a challenge…long flight to Singapore, then a nine hour layover. During the layover I used the free foot massager and found a chaise longue in the tranquility garden for a few hours’ sleep. Did I say the Singapore airport is amazing? I found an American breakfast (of sorts) at an Irish pub and then caught my plane to Manado. I arrived late and there was no one at the airport to pick me up. I called the resort and they arranged for a driver who soon arrived and drove me to a pier an hour and a half away. There I boarded a small speed boat that took me to the resort where Zee, co-owner with her husband Simon, greeted me with her baby boy and her five year old daughter. Zee was wonderful. She showed me the dining hall where there are always beverages and snacks, the camera room, with individual cubicles for our cameras, and my room; it was perfect…on the ground level so I didn’t have to fuss with stairs, and I had my own little covered patio with comfortable chairs
BOX CRAB
Take a closer look. These crab have interesting hand-like front claws that make them look like you've surprised them. and a drying rack. I settled in, grabbed a snack and took a little nap before dinner. When I awoke the other guests were already at the table. The food was wonderful and the people were interesting and pleasant.
I met Simon after dinner and he generously took a look at my new camera. He had used an earlier version of the Canon series, so he showed me a few things I needed to know. I was so grateful for his help.
The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast. The staff caters to the guests and even uses different utensils and prep areas for vegetarians, gluten free diets and other special dietary needs. After breakfast I was introduced to my personal dive master, Opih and the catamaran that was my floating home away from home for the next seven days. I had three great dives with all the fabulous critters for which Lembeh is renowned. I saw frog fish, leaf fish, scorpion fish, octopus, anemones and clown fish. The list goes on and on. I enjoyed talking diving, sharing travel experiences with the other divers on board and enjoyed the fresh fruit which was offered after every
WHITE FROG FISH
I love their buggy eyes and fins that look like, and act like feet. dive.
The camera was working great, set up just as Simon had suggested. But I had a bad headache, stiff muscles and not much appetite at dinner. Kay, another guest, was very sympathetic and rubbed my shoulders with a salve laced with essential oils and put a drop of mint on my pillow case. It was great to receive the TLC she so generously offered. I realized I had pushed it a little, jumping into multiple dives after the arduous trip from South America to the resort. I decided to skip the morning dives the next day and rest. I’d just do the afternoon dive tomorrow. I looked forward to some down time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.452s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 26; qc: 118; dbt: 0.1719s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
WOW, great shot
NICE ONE